Author's Note: This is a side story to Rewritten, by FuzzyDeath. Dani is a minor character in it, and this is her story.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything recognizable. I do claim Dani and Tanya, but that's it.
An Accidental Destiny
Danica Delavert was always an odd child. She was part Cherokee in a Midwestern town that even in 2239 was very much a racist town. She would stick up for anyone who was being picked on. That was how she met her best friend, Tanya Gillespie, and the little boy who would haunt her thoughts from that day on.
It was the hottest day of the year, and all the kids in the small, Midwestern town were outside. Most of the kids were playing a rousing game of kickball, but there were a few stragglers. Dani and Tanya were sitting together, playing a pair of handheld video games. And one little boy was sitting off to the side on a swing. He was just far enough away that his grandparents were satisfied that he was trying to socialize, but not so close to the other kids as to draw attention to himself. It was only when one looked closely that you could see that the little boy was not completely human, that his ears curved upward into graceful points.
Suddenly, the ball from the kickball game got kicked a little too hard and flew off the field. It landed beside the swing set where the little boy with the pointed ears sat. The largest boy walked over to the edge of the outfield and hollered at the other boy, "Hey, freak, kick the ball back!"
The little boy didn't respond immediately, but slowly stood up. He turned to face the children who were starting to cluster around their de-facto leader. "It would be illogical to kick the ball back, considering that you will just kick it over here again if I do."
This brought the leader over to shove the smaller boy. "What the hell does logic have to do with anything?" he yelled, pushing the boy back.
This brought a cheer from the other kids, feeding their instinctive love of violence that all kids seem to feel. They circled the two boys, the chant beginning, "Fight, fight, fight…"
The noise attracted the attention of every kid in the park, including Dani and Tanya. Dani was on her feet in moments, dropping her game into the hands she knew would be there to catch it. Tanya was more of the mind to stay out of other people's business, while Dani was ready to leap to the defense. She shoved her way through the crowd, her black braid swinging behind her. By the time she got through, the larger boy had already thrown a punch that knocked the smaller boy to the ground. There was a trickle of emerald green blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Billy Puskman, what are you griping about? You leave him alone!" she yelled, a tiny ball of fury. She pushed her way between the two boys, her back to the smaller boy. "If you don't leave him alone, I'm going to kick your lard-butt all the way back to your mama."
"Prove it, 'breed," he said, pushing the little girl now. He managed to shove her back almost six inches, considering that he was almost twice her size. "You're just as worthless as this green-blooded freak."
Dani responded by kicking the much-larger Billy between the legs, which doubled him over. Then she hit him in the face. "Now you leave him alone, or I'm gonna tell your dad that you got beat up by a girl. Then you'll get your butt whupped every day until school starts again."
"Whatever, 'breed. You're as much a freak as he is," Billy spat as he stood up, holding his gut. The crowd followed their leader back to the kickball field, one boy grabbing the ball and sticking his tongue out at both Dani and the little boy.
Tanya walked over to join them now, as Dani offered her hand to the fallen boy. "Billy being a turkey again?" the light-brown haired girl asked.
"No more than he always is. Are you ok?" she asked the boy as she helped him to his feet.
He seemed to regain his sense of self as he wiped the blood from his lip. "I am not injured beyond the busted lip," he said, sounding oddly formal for an eight-year-old child in the middle of summer.
"I'm Dani, and this is Tanya," she said, motioning to her friend. "What's your name?"
He looked slightly confused at her name. "My name is Spock. I was under the impression that Daniel was a male name?"
She laughed, a clear bell-like sound. "Dani as in Danica, not Daniel." She looked past him, spotting his grandparents talking with another couple in the shade of the pavilion at the center of the park. "Are you staying with your grandparents long? And if you are, would you like to come play with us again?"
He still held himself in an almost rigid posture. "My parents are coming to get me in the next few days, so that would not be logical."
It didn't seem to faze Dani at all. "Are you going to come visit them again at Christmas, or next summer? Maybe we could be penpals."
"I do not believe that I will be back for the Earth holidays, nor do I believe that I will be required to return in the near future." While he still seemed cold, it didn't seem to really affect Dani. "Thank you for your assistance," he inclined his head towards her, then walked back over to his grandparents.
Once he was out of earshot, Dani turned to Tanya and whispered, "I think he might be the guy I want to marry when I grow up"
She saw him one more time before he left, at the fireworks celebration for the Fourth of July. The church his grandfather was pastor of held a community celebration every year, and this year was no exception. The whole town turned out for it, and the Reverend and his wife were joined by their grandson from…out of town.
Tanya and Dani were off by themselves, talking as young girls do. "So, Dani, who'd you see with the mirror?" Tanya asked in a whisper. The night before, she had dared Dani to put a mirror under her pillow. The superstition was that it would make her dream of the man she would marry when she was grown. Dani blushed and shook her head. "Is he here?" Tanya pressed. Dani nodded, still blushing. "Then I dare you to go kiss him," Tanya whispered. She knew that her best friend couldn't resist a dare.
Dani screwed her courage up, and looked her friend in the eye. "OK," she said as she walked off towards the edge of the park. There, a single, small boy sat, wondering why people were illogically setting off explosives in the park. She walked up and planted one, right on his mouth, just as he started to ask why she was over there.
He put his hand on her face, trying to push her away. Instead, he got flashes of her entire life going through his head. He saw that bully, Billy Puskman, picking on her frequently, until she beat him up in the first grade. He saw her mother, a proud-looking woman with raven hair and light copper skin. He saw her father, a local, and the accident that had killed them both. Her grandparents who were raising her flashed past him, and that Tanya was her only friend. He even saw the dream she'd had the night before, of the two of them as adults on a starship, their children around them.
When he was finally able to pull his hand away, they both acted like they'd been strapped to one of the bottle-rockets that were being fired. Their faces were both flushed; hers pink and his tinged green. He recovered his voice first. "I'm sorry," he whispered, then took off for his grandparents' house.
As she walked back to Tanya, Dani murmured into the night, "You don't have anything to be sorry about, Spock."
She didn't really see him again for several years. She had seen some pictures when she ran into his grandparents, Reverend and Mrs. Grayson, at the church. They were thrilled when he joined Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy. When they told her that, Dani talked Tanya into signing up with her, and as soon as the girls graduated, they were both bound for the Academy installation in Iowa.
She caught a glimpse of him, briefly, in the hallway. Only now, instead of the unsure little boy, he was Professor Spock and very sure of himself. Despite the shyness that had gripped her in high school, she felt like she needed to say hello. She started to go and talk to him when another cadet walked up to him. Dani hid in the doorway and watched as the cadet boldly cupped his face with her hand, and guided his face down for a kiss.
It felt like her heart was going to break. That night, she bought a bottle of auburn dye, and colored her hair. Tanya brought the chocolates, the cream soda, and the vodka, and consoled the half-Cherokee woman as she cried. Both knew that she would probably still adore him, but had to give up the dream.
A few weeks later, their assignments were given for ships. Dani, Tanya, and several other cadets were thrilled to find themselves stationed aboard the USS Enterprise. Both women were engineers, but shared another round of candies when they realized that Dani's childhood crush was onboard and a round of vodka-and-cream soda cocktails when they learned that the other cadet was there too. From that moment on, the women knew it would be an interesting battle to see if Dani would get her man, or if she would be giving him up to Nyota Uhura.
~~~~~~~~ END Chapter ~~~~~~~~
*the title will be explained later, I promise.~~J.
